Linux Newbie Needs Some Advice...

[bob332]

i just installed red hat 7.3 and must say all is going very well. my first impressions are excellent. i have been using windows x for more than 8 years, so i thought i needed a change. i have installed openoffice without a hitch and have just updated the setup.

here is my question:

since i am so new to linux and not familiar with software for it, could you please recommend software for the following areas:
dvd player
cd burnign
ftp client
anti virus
games - first person shooter
mp3 player

and anything else you might find useful.

thanks in advance for your time
bob

 

[wolfsblood]

no need for anti-virus in linux

anyway for mp3 player I would go with xmms and for running games I would go with WineX

 

[n0cmonkey]

dvd player -xine supposedly works, I think. I dont mess with that.
cd burnign -cdrecord and its myriad of X based front ends
ftp client -ftp, type it at the cli, it works fine.
anti virus -There are a couple of anti-trojan and mail anti-virus programs. Needless to say, there arent many "viruses" out there for Linux.
games - first person shooter -Quake 3
mp3 player -mpg321 or mpg123

freshmeat.net has a list of a couple of great linux programs. Also, do a search here for a few other similar threads.

 

[TheOmegaCode]

dvd player - Xine

cd burning software - X CD Roast CD Record

FTP Client - The FTP command or gFTP

anti-virus - search Anti-Virus at Freshmeat.net

games - Don't get too excited here. You can buy WineX, but there's no certainty that games will work, or, like n0cmonkey stated, you can get Quake III

mp3 players - mpg123 is good, especially if you decide to go with CDRecord and XMMS

You can also search around sourceforge.net. I would have used them, but their site is down for maintenance.

 

[hollowman]

I just installed Linux myself as well.. My question is.. how to change fonts in linux? like font size and types. Thanks

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: hollowman
I just installed Linux myself as well.. My question is.. how to change fonts in linux? like font size and types. Thanks

I think thats WM/DE dependant, maybe even application dependant (I can change the settings in mozilla and xterms...).

 

[RedBeard0531]

Unrael tourny (original) has a 100k d/l that makes the cd compatable /w linux. I dont no if the new version, UT2003, will have this support. UT is far supirior to Q3, in my, and several reviewers, POV. that is unless you only like deathmatch and nothing else.

 

[hollowman]

OK. another newbie question for linux.

i have no idea what i am doing.. (about 1 hour of playing with linux so far.. ) give me an headache.

anyways.. i downloaded a file. the file's extension is tar.gz...

i suppose that's a zipped file? how do i unzip that and how to install?

damn, linux is so confusing

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: hollowman
OK. another newbie question for linux.

i have no idea what i am doing.. (about 1 hour of playing with linux so far.. ) give me an headache.

anyways.. i downloaded a file. the file's extension is tar.gz...

i suppose that's a zipped file? how do i unzip that and how to install?

damn, linux is so confusing

There is a thread full of useful information like this. Check it out.

Quick answer:
.tar is a "Tape ARchive." Multiple files, archived into one. .gz is GnuZipped.

tar -xvf filename.tar will untar a tar file.

gunzip filename.gz will gunzip a file

tar -zvxf filename.tar.gz will both gunzip and untar a tarball.

Check the FAQ thread for more detailed instructions and other FAQs.

 

[bob332]

thanks, i am looking into d/l some of those. i already have quake 3 an ut for pc, guess i will get the d/l for the linux version. what is a good ftp server program? the build in one?

thanks again

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: bob332
thanks, i am looking into d/l some of those. i already have quake 3 an ut for pc, guess i will get the d/l for the linux version. what is a good ftp server program? the build in one?

thanks again

Pretty much anything but wu-ftpd.

 

[TheOmegaCode]

hollowman this is how I 'unzip' tar.gz files. $ gunzip -C filename.tar.gz | tar xvf -

 

[bob332]

monkey - why not wu-ftp? i think i have kwu-ftpd. is that the same thing?

also, where is the place to go to get linux softwares? freshmeat?

thanks again for all the help

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: bob332
monkey - why not wu-ftp? i think i have kwu-ftpd. is that the same thing?

also, where is the place to go to get linux softwares? freshmeat?

thanks again for all the help

wu-ftp is a lot like IIS. The history isnt all that great. I dont know the similarities between wu-ftp and kwu-ftp, do a search. freshmeat is one of the first places I look for new software.

 

[Chaotic42]

Edit: Nevermind, not really useful

 

[bob332]

i have also noticed that linux seems to be more sluggish than using windows 2000 pro on the same hardware. is this the way it is or do i have to configure something?

again,
thanks in advance

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: bob332
i have also noticed that linux seems to be more sluggish than using windows 2000 pro on the same hardware. is this the way it is or do i have to configure something?

again,
thanks in advance

Use a less hardware intensive gui and make sure your hard drives are using DMA or whatever (check the FAQ thread, I think there is info on this in there).

 

[bob332]

what are the best image manipulation / web authoring / illustrating / dv video editing for linux. is there any way to use my windows adobe stuff like premiere / photoshop on linux?

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: bob332
what are the best image manipulation / web authoring / illustrating / dv video editing for linux. is there any way to use my windows adobe stuff like premiere / photoshop on linux?

for image manipulation, use (GNU's posterchild) the GIMP. (GNU Image Manipulation Program)

web authoring - well what do you mean? just typing up code? i use vim, it highlights syntax and works great for me. emacs and bluefish are some others to look at (bluefish is html only i think), oh, also, gvim.

illustrating - the gimp? i dont know

dv video editing - no idea. look at freshmeat man! freshmeat.net

i will repeat that just in case you didnt see it - freshmeat.net - go look, and use the little search box. it is invaluble, and everyone uses it because everything is there (pretty much)

you might be able to use premiere (doubtful), and/or photoshop (more likely) in WINE or WINEX. WINE = "Wine Is Not an Emulator", it provides a layer of compatability between linux (and net- open- and freebsd) and windows, so you can run windows apps in linux. the thing is, its basically hacked together by reverse engineering windows, so its by no means perfect or complete. your mileage may vary.

oh, and if you are using KDE or GNOME, that is why it seems slow

 

[bob332]

i will try wine with photoshop. for web authoring i mean like golive or dreamweaver. also, what else can i use besides kde or gnome? are they gui?

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: bob332
i will try wine with photoshop.

Why? GIMP is pretty nice.

for web authoring i mean like golive or dreamweaver.

Bluefish or the other one BBWF mentioned.

also, what else can i use besides kde or gnome?

Windowmaker, blackbox (or its clones), icewm, fvwm, etc.

 

[drag]

Gimp is everything photoshop is. Believe me I know. The only thing that Gimp is inferiorer is with text. The vector based text that Photoshop uses (text that is scalable) is not present in Gimp.

The other thing is when it comes to the menus. Photoshop has everything in a window (mac style) all the pictures, toolbars and menus (layers, color picker etc.) is in a window...

Gimp is a lot more flexeble when it comes to window placement, You can have everything spread across several virtual windows if you want.

The only hangup I had was when it came to the menubar (File Edit View Effects etc etc) is missing. The way you get to it is to right click on a picture.

Everything else from the icons to the menu contexts are made to be as similar to Photoshop as possible. Gimp is VERY slick for a opensource program. Perfectly capable of profesional-level photo manipulation... (I used it for exactly that purpose...)

 

[bob332]

okay, most everything is going excellent, but i need a good ftp server with a GUI. i need to be able to add and delete users quickly and also set permissions, again quickly. i was advised not to use wu-ftp, what else is there? are there gui frontends for pro or pure ftpd? i have searched on freshmeat with little to no luck. again, thank you all in advance, you are making my linux experiency extremely enjoyable.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: bob332
okay, most everything is going excellent, but i need a good ftp server with a GUI. i need to be able to add and delete users quickly and also set permissions, again quickly. i was advised not to use wu-ftp, what else is there? are there gui frontends for pro or pure ftpd? i have searched on freshmeat with little to no luck. again, thank you all in advance, you are making my linux experiency extremely enjoyable.

webmin might work, but what do you need a gui for? Are you a hunt and pecker?

ProFTP has a webmin module. ftpaccount is a 3rd party module that might help.

 

[bob332]

is there any way to print on network printer that is owned be a win2kpro box? i have read that you have to have win2kserv to let linux print on it.